


I told you we're not having kids

by arazuta



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:37:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arazuta/pseuds/arazuta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fic about telling your bruhsband you’re pregnant. Rhys is a trans man (he/him), August is bigender (he/him, she/her, and they/them).</p>
            </blockquote>





	I told you we're not having kids

“Vaughn,” Rhys said, voice just a bit more chipper than usual, as he grabbed his boyfriend by the arm and dragged him over to one of the many salvaged couches that still sat here and there throughout the ruins of Helios. “We’ve gotta talk.” 

“Rhys, you know I love to talk, but I was about to go organize this thing and I’ve really-” 

“It’s important. Like really important.” Rhys insisted and Vaughn would’ve argued if not for the fact that Rhys was looking at him all pleadingly and he’d always been a sap for his best bro. 

“Alright, alright. Children of Helios can wait, what’s up?” He asked, reaching his hand over to intertwine his fingers with Rhys’. 

“So I’ve been thinking…,” Which was never a good thing, “about kids again.” 

“Eugh,” Vaughn reacted, pulling his hand away from Rhys’ and moving to stand up, “I’ve already told you, I don’t-” Rhys stopped him by grabbing his arm. He looked incredibly hurt, which of course always made Vaughn pause. Vaughn sighed. “You know how I feel about kids.” He huffed, while sitting back down. “My parents were all…” He made a vague hand motion that Rhys knew to indicate ‘not good,’ because he had told Rhys all about them before. “And I just don’t feel like I could ever…” 

“Sooo... this would probably be a bad time to mention I didn’t get my period this month?” The last part was so quick that Vaughn was almost convinced he’d misheard. But that was pretty damn specific to be a trick of sound. 

“Oh… Uh, yeah?” 

“I took a test and-” 

“A test?”

“Pregnancy test.” 

“Oh no.”

“Oh yeah.” A grin almost split Rhys’ face, but he tried to keep it down for Vaughn’s benefit. 

“Oh my god! Rhys!” Vaughn stood up as quickly as humanly possible and immediately went to pacing. “How is that- We don’t even really- Not much, at least, and we always make sure to- I mean the risk is there anyways but- God, we should’ve been even more careful-” 

“It’s, ah, uhm,” Rhys interrupted, laughing a little. “It’s probably August’s. He’s a little less… cautious.”

“...” Vaughn stopped to stare at Rhys for a moment before emitting a frustrated groan. “YOU two just- You- You’re- You guys are too irresponsible to use a condom and you think you’re ready for a kid, I-” He took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands while exhaling slowly. Calm, calm, calm. 

“Rhys, I don’t know… I don’t know if I can do this. I mean, remember that one time we agreed to watch Thompson’s baby for a few hours and when you had to head to the store really quick I had like six consecutive panic attacks and ended up crying. That’s not good parenting! That’s not even slightly good parenting! Imagine me trying to do that twenty four seven, I’d fuck the poor kid up.”

“Vaughn, my bro, light of my life, can you like, look around for just a second?” He asked, while holding his arms out wide. Vaughn did just that and then looked at him lost. “This whole community that you built. You took all these ex-Hyperion employees in the destroyed remains of their careers and lives in general on a hellish desert planet and you protected them and helped them figure out how to survive and gave them a new lease on life. They’re literally called the Children of Helios. And you’re their father figure type deal. You need to give yourself some credit, dude. You’re actually really great and good at helping other people and providing for them.”

“That’s different,” Vaughn muttered, crossing his arms and walking back towards Rhys. “They’re adults. They can tell me what they need or what’s wrong.” He plopped down on the couch next to Rhys. “Babies just scream and cry.” 

“Okay, but, to be fair, that’s also all I do.” 

“Rhys.” 

“Sorry.” 

“I just don’t have as much confidence in myself here as you do. What if I mess up? This isn’t a miniscule thing, if I make a mistake that’s an entire life I just ruined right there and I really…” Slumping against Rhys, he closed his eyes, tried to even out his breathing. 

“It won’t be just you, bro. I’ll always be right there with you. I can get one of those sweet baby carriers and tote the infant around on Atlas business. We can help each other, support each other, make sure stuff goes right. We’ve got August, too.” 

“...I love her, but that’s not exactly comforting,” Vaughn mumbled, resting his head against Rhys’ shoulder. “Crime syndicate ring leaders aren’t generally considered to be good influences.” 

“They and I have talked about it before and he’s really into the idea of having children. August’s freaked out by the idea sometimes, too, is worried that she’ll be like her mom, will hurt the kid. But he also really likes kids, really wants to protect them, wants them to have better than he did. Even if he’s involved in some questionable… business practices, they’ve got good moral foundation. You know that. You were the first one to get all buddy-buddy with August.” 

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. I’m just freaking out. Imagining all the shit that could go wrong. This planet’s so dangerous and…” 

“We’re working to make it better. All of us. We’ve already got the building blocks in place to give this kid a great future. And if we ever need a break I can always get my adoring fans to babysit.” Rhys wrapped an arm around Vaughn and grinned encouragingly. 

“I can’t believe it’s been over a year and you’re still on that ego trip.” Vaughn snorted. “But if you really think this will work… If you really trust me to do this, then I trust your judgement, bro.” 

“I’ll always trust you, bro.” 

“Bro.”

“Bro.”

“...I think I’ll still need a little time to adjust to the idea, though.”

“How’s nine months sound?”

“I’m gonna punch you, bro.” 

“You wouldn’t hit a pregnant man, would you?” 

“Of course not. We can… talk about this more later, but I’ve got to go do that thing I was talking about earlier.” Vaughn stood up and stretched. At least he seemed a little more at ease. 

“Alrighty. I need to go change and then tell August about this.” Rhys stood up and stretched. 

“Why change?”

“Because the jacket and water don’t mix well and she’s going to cry like a baby.” 

“Can’t you just take the jacket off?” 

“I can be sympathetic and fashionable at the same time, Vaughn.”

“...Whatever you say.” He wrapped his arms around Rhys and gave him a good squeeze, staying there for a minute before leaning up. Rhys met him halfway for a quick peck. Then Vaughn released Rhys slowly and patted his arm before smiling softly, then turned heel and walked off. 

August did, in fact, cry like a baby when Rhys told him the news.


End file.
